ABSTRACT
The architecture of our cities varies with their political functions. Some are obvious strongholds, citadels from whose walls their rulers could dominate the surrounding countryside. Others are safe places, where people seek collective safety, and perhaps surround themselves with fortifications, but from which they work the surrounding countryside as farmers, rather than as dominant overlords. Some are places of trade and industry; others are capitals for kingdoms, or even empires, whose citizens are able to exploit, either for themselves or, on their behalf by their rulers, the resources of other states and lands, and so provide a standard of living beyond that which can be provided out of local resources alone. Architecture is influenced by these differing circumstances-by necessity, for prestige, above all in accordance with the economic support available, and the readiness with which this can be spent on display.
